An Act to prevent the further Growth of Popery, commonly known as the Popery Act or the Gavelkind Act,Andrew Lyall; Land Law in Ireland; was an Act of the

Parliament of Ireland The Parliament of Ireland ( ga, Parlaimint na hÉireann) was the legislature of the Lordship of Ireland, and later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1297 until 1800. It was modelled on the Parliament of England and from 1537 comprised two chamb ...

that was passed in 1703 and amended in 1709. One of a series of Penal Laws against

Roman Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, the law enforced Irish farm subdivision as a rule of inheritance. The law established a different inheritance rule for Roman Catholics from that of Protestants. Traditional Irish law used

Gavelkind Gavelkind () was a system of land tenure chiefly associated with the Celtic law in Ireland and Wales and with the legal traditions of the English county of Kent. The word may have originated from the Old Irish phrases ''Gabhaltas-cinne'' or ''Gav ...

as the inheritance rule in which an estate would be divided equally among a dead man's sons. In contrast, England had come to use

male primogeniture Primogeniture ( ) is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit the parent's entire or main estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relativ ...

as the main inheritance principle, with the eldest son receiving the entire estate. The Gavelkind Act enforced the traditional Irish law on Roman Catholics and the English law on Protestants. If the eldest son of a Roman Catholic family converted to the Protestant faith, he would no longer have to share his father's estate with his siblings (by Gavelkind) but could instead keep all of it for himself (by primogeniture). Thus, the law had the effect of reducing the size and thus the influence of Roman Catholic landed estates, which was the Act's ulterior motive. Its citation is ''2 Anne, c.6''. Catholic land holdings were reduced from 25% of the land in 1688 to 14% of the land in 1704 and 5% of the land in 1776. Sir Toby Butler, the former

Solicitor General for Ireland The Solicitor-General for Ireland was the holder of an Irish and then (from the Act of Union 1800) United Kingdom government office. The holder was a deputy to the Attorney-General for Ireland, and advised the Crown on Irish legal matters. On rar ...

, a Roman Catholic, made a celebrated speech at the bar of the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a highly restrictive fra ...

denouncing the Act as being "against the laws of God and man... against the rules of reason and justice". Other eminent Catholic lawyers like Stephen Rice also denounced the measure but to no avail. Section XVII required any person with a civil or military office to subscribe to a declaration on transubstantiation, take an oath of abjuration and receive the sacrament of the Lord's Supper according to the usage of the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second ...

within three months. As well as excluding Roman Catholics from office, the final requirement excluded non-conformist Protestants, notably Presbyterians, and many had to step down from municipal corporations and other positions. For example, in Londonderry, ten Aldermen and ten Burgesses had to resign.''The Annals of Derry'', Robert Simpson 1847
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An Act to prevent the further Growth of Popery 1704
Acts of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) 1703 in law 1703 in Ireland Penal Laws in Ireland 1703 in Christianity {{Ireland-hist-stub

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